The invention relates to a magnetic-tape cassette comprising a housing with peripheral walls, of which one peripheral wall is formed with an opening for the passage of a magnetic head mounted on a magnetic-tape apparatus, tape-guide elements for guiding the magnetic tape in the cassette across said opening, a tape-pressure member comprising a pressure element which abuts against the back of the magnetic tape near said opening. The pressure member is mounted on a substantially U-shaped leaf spring comprising a main portion elongated in the direction of tape transport on which the pressure element is arranged near the center. The leaf spring presses the pressure element against the tape and against the magnetic head once the magnetic head has been introduced through the opening. At the side which is remote from the opening, near the ends of its main portion, the spring abuts against two supporting elements provided in the housing.
Such a cassette is known from U.S. Pat. Specification No. 4,392,169 and is generally referred to as a "Compact Cassette". In this known cassette the leaf spring near the ends of the flat main portion acts against upright pins on one of the cassette main walls on opposite sides of the opening in the peripheral wall. The pressure element serves to ensure that the head face of a magnetic-tape head which projects into the opening during operation is properly in contact with the magnetic tape which moves past the head face. The front side of the pressure element which faces the opening extends at least substantially parallel to said peripheral wall when the cassette is inoperative. As the pressure element is made of an elastically compressible material such as felt the pressure element, if the magnetic head is slightly tilted relative to said peripheral wall, can adapt itself slightly to this tilted position. However, if the tilting angle of the magnetic head exceeds a specific value and/or if the elasticity of the pressure element has degraded as a result of ageing, the pressure element is no longer capable of pressing the magnetic tape uniformly against the head face of the magnetic head manner over the entire surface area, so that one of the tape halves is not fully in contact with the head. This results in a degraded reproduction and/or recording of the signal tracks situated in this tape half. It has been found that these problems occur in particular in magnetic-tape apparatuses of the "reverse" type, where the tape is moved past the head in two opposite directions for recording and/or reproduction and where the head is rotated through 180.degree. when the tape-transport direction is changed. If such a head is tilted, which happens frequently in practice as a result of the comparatively intricate method of mounting the head, the part of the head face where the two air gaps of the head ducts terminate may be in poor contact with the magnetic tape in both functional positions of the head.
From U.S. patent specification No. 4,293,885 it is known to provide the leaf spring for a tape pressure member in a magnetic tape cassette with convex embossments which abut against pins in the cassette, allowing the leaf spring to be tilted to adapt its position to the position of a tilted magnetic head. However, the convex embossments necessitate an accurate positioning of the leaf spring relative to the pins so that a high precision must be observed in the manufacture of this known cassette. Therefore, the construction of this cassette is comparatively expensive and less suitable for use in compact cassettes, which are produced in large quantities at a comparatively low price.